Abstract
Increasing competition by emerging Far East economies raises the interest of many companies in innovative technologies. The digital factory is one of the central keys to a better exploitation of potentials in the existing production processes. Up to now, only a few large companies took the chance towards the introduction of digital technologies; but more and more also small and medium sized enterprises (SME) get involved. This article illustrates with two practical examples the benefits of digital planning tools with the help of diagrams and provides useful guidelines for their practical application.